2024 Reprint of 1881 Edition. VOLUME ONE. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. After enjoying years as a popular journalist and poet, intellectual and freethinker, Gerald Massey turned his vast studies in the field of Egyptology into "A Book of the Beginnings," a bold statement that the origin of all civilization lays in ancient Egypt. The author describes his book as an attempt to recover and reconstitute the lost origins of the myths and mysteries, types and symbols, religion and language, with Egypt for the mouthpiece and Africa as the birthplace. His assertions, radical at the time, resonate to this day, when molecular biology is making corresponding discoveries alongside the still-raging creation-versus-evolution controversy. British author GERALD MASSEY (1828-1907) published works of poetry, spiritualism, Shakespearean criticism, and theology, but his best-known works are in the realm of Egyptology, including "The Natural Genesis" and "Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World." In volume one, Massey focuses on Egyptian origins in the British Isles. In the second volume, he explores the African/Egyptian roots of the Hebrews, the Akkado-Assyrians, and the Maori. By linking these diverse cultures and origins to their African roots, Massey demonstrates not only the extent of African influence but its durability as well.